President Putin on Thursday attempted to assuage fears of economic collapse and promised rapid recovery as he faced hundreds of journalists during the worst financial crisis of his rule.

Speaking at his annual press-conference, the Russian leader said that the economic downturn will last two years at the most and he promised to support the poorest segment of the population.

Some 400 Russian sailors are returning home, French shipbuilder DCNS said Wednesday, as Paris weighs whether to deliver the Mistral-class warship to Russia amid the Ukraine crisis.

Russia's finance ministry is selling its foreign currency to support the ruble, a spokeswoman told AFP on Wednesday.

"The finance ministry considers the ruble extremely undervalued and is starting to sell its left-over currency on the market," spokeswoman Svetlana Nikitina said. She did not give details of the amount.

Saudi Arabia will continue massive public spending despite a 50 percent drop in the price of oil which provides the bulk of the kingdom's revenue, the finance minister said Wednesday.

Ibrahim bin Abdulaziz Al-Assaf commented after completing the 2015 budget, which will be presented to cabinet "in the near future", the official Saudi Press Agency said.

Extreme weather and other natural and man-made disasters caused $113 billion (90.6 billion euros) in economic losses in 2014, reinsurer Swiss Re said Wednesday.

This is 16 percent less than the $135 billion in losses recorded in 2013 and significantly below the average annual figure of $188 billion for the previous 10 years.

Oil suffered fresh losses in Asia Wednesday, sinking to new multi-year lows as dealers watch Russia's ruble crisis and await the latest U.S. crude supply report, analysts said.

U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate for January delivery sank $1.16 in afternoon trade to $54.77 while Brent crude for February fell 71 cents to $59.30 on the contract's first day of trading.

The Russian ruble crashed to new record lows Tuesday, losing some 20 percent in value by the afternoon despite drastic overnight measures by the central bank to hike the key rate.

The ruble hit 80 to the dollar and 100 to the euro on the Moscow Exchange. Overall the Russian currency has lost nearly 60 percent of its value since the start of the year.

Turkey's currency the lira hit a new record low on Tuesday as investors moved out of emerging markets amid the collapse of the Russian ruble and fretted over the impact of raids against Turkish opposition media.

The lira hit a record low in value of 2.41 lira to the dollar, worse than Monday's record low in value of 2.39 lira to the dollar. It subsequently recovered a little to trade at 2.37 lira to the dollar.

Investment sentiment in Germany rose sharply in December after a rebound the previous month, driven by a weak euro and plunging oil prices, a survey found on Tuesday.

The widely watched investor confidence index calculated by the ZEW economic institute jumped by 23.4 points in December, after rising for the first time this year in November, ZEW said in a statement.

Cyprus's largest lender returned to the Nicosia and Athens stock markets Tuesday after a 21-month absence following a banking crisis that brought the island's economy to its knees.

But early trades in Bank of Cyprus shares ensured a bumpy ride for the return of the country's top financial company.